Method of briqueting and the product.



E. R. SUTYCLIFFE.

METHOD OF BRIQUETING AND THE PRODUCT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21. 1915.

1,283,354., M Patented 001;. 29, 1918.

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EDGAR Eo sEsurcLIFEE, 0E LEIGH, ENGLAND, AssIcnoE To PURE COAL BEIooErrEs LIMITED, 0F CARDIFF, WALES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR ROUSE'SUT- CLIFIE, asubject of the KingofGreat Britain and Ireland, residing at Leigh, Lancashire, England, have invented an Improved Method of Briqueting and the Product, of Whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates'to an improved the entire body of material, or at least the greater part of such material, w1ll pass a screen of 200- mesh. -This vproduct is subjected in segregated masses toa preliminary pressure. I 7

According to the invention I reduce the raw material to be briqueted to a very finely comminuted condition in any suitable apparatus such as a tube, mill, and I subject the raw material in this very finely comminuted condition to compression to produce compressed or compacted bodies ofany desired shape according to the character and form of the apparatus used for the purpose, and I then breakup, crush or disintegrate the compressed bodies so produced into small particles and then subject the product of this preliminary compression and disinte gration to a further or final compression,

carried out advantageously ata higher degree of pressure than that at which the preliminary compression of the raw material took place.

It is found that a better cohesion and consolidation is secured by such a processof briqueting and a product that is very hard and tough.

The invention is of special utility in the production of large blocks or briquets of coal, which by reason of their heavyweight require to be extremely tough so as eff'ectively to withstand the effects of dumping, in transport of the blocks, but itis also of general application to raw materials capable of being briqueted either with or without a binder or agglutinant of a charactersuitable to the raw material employed.

METHOD OF BRIQITETING AND THE PRODUCT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented (Bet, 251), 1918, Application filed March 27, 1915. Serial No. 17,505. r

The method of the invention is illustrated by way of example and diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a diagrammatic section of a hopper and plunger press adapted for the preliminary as well as for the further or final compression according to the method of the invention. i

y In carrying the invention into effect in the production of large blocks or briquets of coal from coal slack or waste coal, I re duce the material into a very finely comminuted condition or flour. This I effect advantageously in a tube mill, so that the condition of the comminuted substance is such that the greater part will pass through a screen of 200 mesh. I find that the very finely comminuted condition of the rawdation of the particles as, for example, when raw material which binds with difficulty,

is treated; but in general, such conditions" of pressure in the preliminary compression of the raw material are not essential; while again I may produce blocks or briquets in the preliminary compression, of the same or of a larger size than those produced after breaking up or crushing. I may compress the raw material in the preliminary compression into bodies of any size. I may, for example, produce them in the shape of small spheres or other shaped pieces or bodies, and when so providing them I may entirely dispense with the step of breaking up or crushing the product of the preliminary compression before subjecting it to the further or final compression in molds of larger size.

It is to be observed in this connection that the primary compression must be great enough to effect the expulsion of entrapped and absorbed air from the impalpably powdered fuel and binder, if any, and to develop, to some extent at least, the latent plasticity of this impalpably powdered mass, so that the primarily formed blocks are quite dense and uniform as a result, though not necessarily so hard as they can be made by primary pressure such as that disclosed in my application filed concurrently herewith and numbered serially 17 504.

The product of the preliminary compression being in the form of blocks, cakes, nodules flakes, or bodies it may then be crushed to small particles of a size, for example, as may pass througha' screen of Onequarter-inch mesh, and the material passed through the screen may then be subject to a further or final compression in one or more stages. The breakingjup or crushing may be effected in any suitable apparatus, as, for example, by passing "the material through a pair of toothed crushing rolls. I prefer in general to effect the pre-pressing so as to produce blocks or nodules instead of flakes.

In Fig. 1 the mold and plungers of a hopper and plunger press suitable alike for car rying out the preliminary compression as well as the further or final compression of the mater1al are d1agrammatically represented, in which the very finely divided raw H material or the crushed and screened blocks,

cakes, nodules, flakes, or bodies being the product of the preliminary compression, are fed into the hopper e. I prefer to provide the mold a tapering outwardly toward the discharge end, into which the material d to be compressed is fed by means of the movable plunger 6. f The blocks are produced by compression of the charges between the movable plungers b and c. The ends of the respective plungers 7) and c are recessed at 72 and 0 so that thus the rear edge of each block is rounded, while the front protruding edge consequently formed upon the block will be crushed on the final pressure being applied by the plunger 0. In starting from the position indicated in Fig. 1 the plunger 7) will move forward to feed a further charge into the mouth of the mold a, and the plunger 0 will at the same time move forward in the opposite direction so that thus the block at the front end of the mold and which has been produced in the previous compression will be finally compressed, while the first compression is applied to the charge fed into the mold. The plunger 7) will then return for a further charge to be fed into the mold, and upon the plunger 7) again moving forward, the finally compressed block at the front end of the mold will be pushed out of the mold. By so providing the mold tapering outwardly the block on the first compression will have stresses imposed upon it, andyupon being forced forward in the mold will be free to expand laterally in the larger part of the mold, so that thus the blocks produced are effectively consolidated and are free from cracks or lammations.

I have found in the production of cylindrical blocks of 3" in diameter and 2" in depth that a uniform taper in the mold of th ofan inch is suiiicient to insure the production of a block under the conditions inclicated where the compression is carried out in two stages and the degree of pressure is gradually increased up to a final pressure of 10 tons per square inch and the block moved in the mold in the interval between the stages of compression. It will be understood that the further or final compression may be effected in any other press than that diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1.; for example, thejblocks may be convenientlymade in a hydraulic press, but in this case also I preferto provide the molds taperingoutwardly toward the dis charge end of the mold.

It will thus be understood that the further or final compression of the preliminarily compressed and disintegrated raw material may be efiected by the methods and means described in the specification of the pending application made by me, Serial No. 1? ,504, filed March 27, 1915. By the preliminary compression and disintegration of the raw material and the subsequent compression of .the resulting product in the manner described, avery hard and tough block ofcoal may be produced. The hardness and toughness imparted to the block render it possible for large andheavy blocks to be produced which will Withstand the. effects of clumping in transport Without being broken up and shattered. I find that a distinct physi cal character is imparted to the block pro duced as the result of the method of the in vention, for whereas inthe production of blocksor briquets in'the hopper and plunger press as represented in Fig. 1, in the utilization of very finely comminuted coal not previously subject to preliminary compres- SiOn and disintegration, a hard block is produced having a fracturesimilar to the fracture of freestone, a block producedin thesame machine of raw material previously subjected to pressure to form blocks which are then disintegrated will break with a fracture not unlike the fracture of a piece of granite. Sucha fracture of the block and its behavior under tests indicates that the method of its consolidation according to the invention imparts to it a physical quality by which it is highly resistant to impact;

and thusthe method of the invention may be employed for the production of blocks or briquets of large size and weight.

The degree of pressureunder which the preliminary compression takes place may be 7 relatively low and yet be effective. Apressure of from one to five tons per square inch suflices, but. the degree of pressure may be varied according to the raw material employed. and its capacity of binding, while I the degree of pressure applied for the farther or final compression may be from eight to ten tons per square inch.

It will be understood that one of the objects of the invention is to produce blocks without the necessary use of a hinder or agglutinant by the improvement in the method of compressing that is involved in the invention, but in dealing with anthracite or coke, that are consolidated with diificulty or not at all when a binder or agglutinant is not used, I advantageously incorporate the binder or agglutinant with the raw material before the preliminary compression and in a finely comminuated condition.

It will, however, be understood that the invention is not confined to the production of the final product in the condition of briquets such as are produced in presses, as the compression of the finely divided and preliminarily pressed raw material may be effected within the retorts or ovens when the product is intended for coking, and in such event the compression of the treated raw material in the condition of small spheres or.

other shaped pieces may be effected by means similar to that now usually employed for the compression of the charges for coke ovens or retorts. Or again, the compression may be effected by tamping or in large molds or receptacles destined to be passed into the ovens or retorts, or the treated raw material may be coked without being subjected to any fur ther compression.

The method of the invention is of general application to raw materials capable of being b-riqueted, such as minerals, ores, ores or minerals and fuel, cement raw material, or cement raw material and fuel, or raw material for the manufacture of bricks, and when treating such mixtures I may reduce the several raw materials to a finely comminuted condition separately or together, and otherwise treat them in the manner hereinbefore described with or without a binder as may be necessary according to the character of the raw material.

The hard and tough blocks produced ac cording to the process of the invention may be coked for the production of a coke fuel.

I claim:

1. A method of briqueting carbonaceous substances of the character of coal, consisting in reducing the substance to the uniform condition of extreme fineness, subjecting the said substance in the said condition to a preliminary compression, breaking up the compressed product, and subjecting the resulting product to further compression to produce a block or briquet, substantially as described.

A method of briqueting carbonaceous substances of the character of coal, consisting in reducing the substance to be briqueted and a binder to the substantially uniform condition of extreme fineness, subjecting the mixture of the said substance and the said binder to a preliminary compression, breaking up the compressed product, and subjecting the resulting product to further compression to produce a block or briquet, substantially as described.

3. A method of briqueting carbonaceus substances of the character of coal, consisting in reducing the substance to be b-riqueted to the substantially uniform condition of extreme fineness, subjecting the said substance in said condition to a preliminary compression, breaking up the compressed product, subjecting the resulting product to further compression, and permitting the expansion of the block or briquet transversely to the line of application of the pressure under the stresses imposed in the said further compres sion, substantially as described.

4:. A method of briqueting carbonaceous substances of the character of coal, consisting in reducing the substance to be briqueted to the uniform condition of extreme fineness, subjecting the said substance in the said condition to a preliminary compression, breaking up the compressed product, subjecting the resulting product to a further compression in a plurality of stages, and permitting the expansion of the block or briquet in the interval between the successive stages of compression transversely to the line of application of the pressure employed, substantially as described.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a hard and tough briquet composed of a carbonaceous substance compressed in a dry state to coherence from a uniform condition of extreme fineness, and again subjected, when in the shape of lumps or fragments, to compression in mass, substantially as described.

6. A method of briqueting carbonaceous material which consists in reducing said material to a uniform condition of extreme fineness, compressing said material, when in such condition, dry to compactness and coherence, and recompressing and compacting such compressed and compacted material, when it is in the condition of lumps or fragments, to produce dense, compact blocks or briquets, substantially as described.

EDGAR HOUSE SUTCLIFFE.

Witnesses 'WILLIAM EDWARD EVANS, Ron-Ear OWEN IIUGI-IES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

